


Only Time Will Tell

by NFx



Series: GinHijiWeek2020 [2]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bickering, Day 3 soulmate au, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NFx/pseuds/NFx
Summary: "Speaking of soulmates..." Gintoki started, side-glancing at him.Hijikata felt his eye twitch as Gintoki started squirming next to him. "Just spit it out already!" he exploded, turning to glare at him."Well, you see, Gin-san's been awfully curious about something lately, and I was wondering if you-""You want to see how much time you have left, don't you?" he interrupted.Gintoki stared at him sheepishly, a grin forming on his mouth. "I mean, can you blame me? Don't you wanna know how much time you have left?"
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Series: GinHijiWeek2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737982
Comments: 22
Kudos: 133





	Only Time Will Tell

“Hijikata.”

“Hijikata-kun.”

“Hi-ji-ka-ta- _kun_.”

“Toshi—“

“Finish that word and you’re dead.” Hijikata growled, throwing him a quick glance. Then, he sighed and turned his attention back on the busy street. “What the fuck are you doing here, anyway? Can’t you see I’m working? Go pester someone else. Go, shoo.”

“Oi, who are you ‘shooing’ away? What am I, a dog?” Gintoki retorted, taking a seat next to him on the bench. “Gin-san deserves to be treated with _respect_ and I expect no less from my soulmate!”

“If you want me to stop treating you like a dog then stop acting like one.” Hijikata deadpanned.

“I’m going to completely ignore that because I know that deep down, through all that mayonnaise-filled body, you adore me.” Gintoki proclaimed dramatically and Hijikata scoffed. “In your dreams, maybe.”

Almost eight months had passed since Hijikata had found out that he and Gintoki were soulmates. Only an accidental grip to the wrist, while they were having one of their usual fights, was needed and, curiosity having gotten the best of him, his eyes had wandered towards Gintoki’s wrist.

It was the worst decision he had made in his entire life. Not only were the close months that followed complete hell -having to live the rest of his miserable life knowing that his soulmate was that absolute fucking idiot- but whilst Hijikata wanted to keep this a secret, Gintoki made sure that at least _everyone_ in Edo knew, if not the whole fucking _galaxy_.

So, as expected, nothing had gone as he would have preferred, but as months passed and things calmed down, Gintoki would usually approach him on his own and spend time with him, in order to ‘atone’ for his previous mistake. While his presence at first irritated Hijikata to no end, after a long period of persistence, he grew to tolerate and even as much as… _enjoy_ their time together.

Although Hijikata would never admit that out loud, he had long since accepted his feelings towards that silver-haired idiot. That also did not mean that he had acted upon them, not as of yet. They were both in their late twenties, so it was much too early to be playing husband and wife as Hijikata’s primal loyalty still lay with the Shinsengumi.

Either way, he doubted that Gintoki had any feelings towards him at all.

“Speaking of soulmates…” Gintoki started, side-glancing at him.

Hijikata felt his eye twitch as Gintoki started squirming next to him. “Just spit it out already!” he exploded, turning to glare at him.

“Well, you see, Gin-san’s been awfully curious about something lately and I was wondering if you—“

“You want to see how much time you have left, don’t you?” he interrupted.

Gintoki stared at him sheepishly, a grin forming on his mouth. “I mean, can you blame me? Don’t _you_ wanna know how much time you have left?”

Hijikata grabbed a cigarette from the pack that was inside of his jacket and placed it between his lips, lighting in up with his lighter. He took a drag, feeling the nicotine fill his lungs and then blew out slowly, watching the smoke dissolve into the air. “I don’t really care,” he said, “I’m not the type to play with life and death.”

Gintoki snorted, “That’s because with so many cigarettes you smoke per day, you _know_ you don’t have much to live. And all that extra mayonnaise is not helping, either.”

Hijikata shrugged. “Maybe,” he paused to take another drag of his cigarette, “but then again, with the line of work I’m in, life was never much on my side.”

After that, a blanket of silence fell over the two, as they both turned their attention towards the busy streets of Edo.

He sighed heavily, shoulders sagging in defeat. “If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

“Yes.” Gintoki responded immediately, but then hesitated and added, “Probably for a few hours.”

He clicked his tongue and turned his body towards Gintoki. “Fine, let’s get this over with.” He reached over, about to take Gintoki’s wrist into his hand when it was snatched away.

“What the fuck are you doing, asshole?” he fumed, “I don’t have time to play around!”

“I want to see yours first!”

He blinked, “You want to see mine first— why? I thought you were only interested in seeing yours.”

Gintoki gave him a look like _he_ was the one being unreasonable. “We have to save the best for last, of course. Either way, you don’t care about yours, so it’s not like you would mind, right?”

“God, you’re _so_ fucking annoying—“ he yanked back his jacket sleeve and thrust his hand towards Gintoki. “Here!”

A few moments of silence passed as Gintoki’s eyes widened, staring at Hijikata’s wrist in awe. Then, as he was about to ask, Gintoki cut in.

“The fuck, this is a _huge_ number— wait, that means you have around…SEVENTY YEARS TO LIVE?!” he yelled and Hijikata slapped his other hand over Gintoki’s mouth, muffling his words.

“Don’t scream that shit out, you fucking idiot!” he hissed and wrenched his hand away from Gintoki’s grip. “And I’m surprised you even knew how to divide that into years.”

Gintoki grabbed the hand that was covering his mouth and pulled it away. “Why the fuck do _you_ get to live for seventy years more?! How is that even possible?!” he hissed back.

“Fuck if I know! Now, give me your hand so I can finally do my job properly!”

Gintoki seemed like he was physically restraining himself from making any further comment, and just grumbled under his breath while reluctantly offering his hand. Although, Hijikata wasn’t going to deny the fact that he was surprised, too. It sure came as a shock learning that he had another seventy years to live when all of his life he had braced himself to barely touch his thirties.

As he grabbed Gintoki’s hand, he glanced down and blinked, doing a double-take.

“C’mon, Hijikata-kun, what’s taking you so long? It’s just a number, don’t be afraid of it. Or is it so huge that you can’t even understand how long it is? Is Gin-san gonna be immortal?!” A wide grin stretched on Gintoki’s lips, his eyes sparkling.

“Oh, good, seems like you have one year left to live.” He stated and dropped Gintoki’s hand.

“What?” Gintoki’s face fell, “What do you mean ‘good’?! _Oi_!”

He snorted and then got up from the bench, facing ahead. “Calm down, idiot, I was kidding. You have sixty-five years left to live— too many years for a reckless asshole like you, if you ask me, but I guess I have to accept it.” he glanced over his shoulder at Gintoki, ”I guess congratulations are in order, loser.”

Gintoki leaned back, flashing him a wide smile. “I hardly would consider myself a loser when I get to spend all those sixty-five years annoying you until we’re both old and wrinkly.”

Hijikata merely grunted, causing Gintoki to let out a bark of laughter and turned his head towards the front. He stepped foot into the busy streets of Edo, blending with the crowd, hoping that no one would notice his erratic breathing and his body shaking like a leaf.

His mind was haunted by the glaring numbers of _365_ written on Gintoki’s wrist.

**Author's Note:**

> #SorryNotSorry


End file.
